This is a job for...FanFic!
Jun. 1st, 2008 01:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sinanjuI'm frustrated.
Frustrated by a lack of participation in the games I play online. They're--with one exception, a classic HERO system superhero game--more like collaborative fiction writing. But not so much with the collaborative part these days.
This is especially frustrating when the GM and most of the other players in one game, which has languished for weeks or months--are busily and happily participating two or three other games (not all of them in the same ones) that are going like gangbusters. But it's just generally frustrating.
So perhaps it's time to turn more of my attention to writing solo stories again. Then I don't have to wait on other people. Fanfic, probably. I've spent a lot of time toying with the idea of writing original stories, especially given that friends have urged me to. The problems with that are:
1. I apparently still have a bit of the "get published" meme kicking around in my head. And getting published would involve short stories, most likely. The problem there is that I haven't picked up a fiction magazine (SF or mystery or any other kind) in years; I have no idea what sorts of stories the magazines are publishing--and one of the first rules getting published is "know the market" so that at the very least you aren't submitting things they've seen a zillion times before.
2. I haven't picked up a fiction magazine for so long because mostly I found them not worth the price. "Life is like a box of chocolates" sounds good--but I never liked sampler boxes of chocolates. As often as not, what I get is something I don't like. Maybe one or two stories in a whole magazine would be interesting to me. Most of them lost my attention before I finished them. (The editors aren't the only ones who are quick to dismiss stories that don't seize their attention and hold it in an iron grip the whole way through.)
3. Novels? Hah. It is to laugh. I've never written a whole novel. Which is not to say that I couldn't, but the odds of getting one written and published in anything less than years (and years) are infinitesimal. And, frankly, I don't know that I have anything I want to say at novel length anyhow.
So...fanfic. If I'm going to write mostly for my own entertainment, well--fanfic entertains me. There are some original story ideas percolating in the back of my mind too, but nothing I think would be salable. So, again, writing for my own amusement. Maybe I'm underestimating myself. Maybe people would like to read what I have to write. I dunno.
But in any case, I think more writing and less gamewriting may be in order.
Frustrated by a lack of participation in the games I play online. They're--with one exception, a classic HERO system superhero game--more like collaborative fiction writing. But not so much with the collaborative part these days.
This is especially frustrating when the GM and most of the other players in one game, which has languished for weeks or months--are busily and happily participating two or three other games (not all of them in the same ones) that are going like gangbusters. But it's just generally frustrating.
So perhaps it's time to turn more of my attention to writing solo stories again. Then I don't have to wait on other people. Fanfic, probably. I've spent a lot of time toying with the idea of writing original stories, especially given that friends have urged me to. The problems with that are:
1. I apparently still have a bit of the "get published" meme kicking around in my head. And getting published would involve short stories, most likely. The problem there is that I haven't picked up a fiction magazine (SF or mystery or any other kind) in years; I have no idea what sorts of stories the magazines are publishing--and one of the first rules getting published is "know the market" so that at the very least you aren't submitting things they've seen a zillion times before.
2. I haven't picked up a fiction magazine for so long because mostly I found them not worth the price. "Life is like a box of chocolates" sounds good--but I never liked sampler boxes of chocolates. As often as not, what I get is something I don't like. Maybe one or two stories in a whole magazine would be interesting to me. Most of them lost my attention before I finished them. (The editors aren't the only ones who are quick to dismiss stories that don't seize their attention and hold it in an iron grip the whole way through.)
3. Novels? Hah. It is to laugh. I've never written a whole novel. Which is not to say that I couldn't, but the odds of getting one written and published in anything less than years (and years) are infinitesimal. And, frankly, I don't know that I have anything I want to say at novel length anyhow.
So...fanfic. If I'm going to write mostly for my own entertainment, well--fanfic entertains me. There are some original story ideas percolating in the back of my mind too, but nothing I think would be salable. So, again, writing for my own amusement. Maybe I'm underestimating myself. Maybe people would like to read what I have to write. I dunno.
But in any case, I think more writing and less gamewriting may be in order.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-06-01 09:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-06-02 04:36 am (UTC)That's...crazy talk, babe! :D
(no subject)
Date: 2008-06-01 10:29 pm (UTC)And remember: Never reject your own material. That's an editor's job.
Sincerely,
Your local friendly writer who remembers your original stories and kows that if you laughed in the face of fear you'd do great.
P.S. Socializing with your wife is also a fabulous idea. You might even get some story ideas--nah, that's crazy talk. NM
(no subject)
Date: 2008-06-02 04:39 am (UTC)Thanks for the sympathy. :D That's what friends are for, oh yeah...
I know, I know. Don't "prequalify" the sale (in Amway-speak); let the buyer decide yes or no. He might say yes. I suppose this applies to the "know the market" rule too--who cares what they're publishing. Write what I want and see if anyone else wants it. We'll see.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-06-01 10:42 pm (UTC)So write something... I'll take a look!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-06-02 04:40 am (UTC)As for fanfic, much (not all) of what I've written in the past in linked in my Memories if you want to see it.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-06-02 11:58 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-06-03 05:58 am (UTC)But I can give you a crash course in Highlander canon--at least enough to understand my stories.
1. Immortals heal really, really fast from any non-lethal injury. If killed, they reboot and are good as new.
2. Immortals can sense one another's presence at relatively close range; very new immortals tend to feel this as a sudden headache.
3. Losing their heads is the only permanent way to kill them. If this happens, their power (their 'Quickening') gets transferred to the nearest other immortal* in a violent lightning show.
4. Immortals fight one another to death in "The Game" and the winner gains the loser's quickening. Eventually (so the story goes) the last surviving immortal will gain unspeakable power--which could be very good or very bad for mankind, depending on who the victor is. Many immortals would prefer to just quietly live their lives, but this seldom possible for long unless they retreat to holy ground permanently.
5. There are rules for these duels. Announce your challenge openly. One-on-one fights only. No (mortal) witnesses. Never on holy ground. Not all immortals abide by the rules, though flagrant cheaters tend to come to untimely ends when the good guys catch up to them.
6. The Watchers are a society of mortals who know about the immortals; they keep track of them and record their lives (and deaths). Most immortals are unaware of their existence.
7. Xavier St. Cloud was a recurring immortal bad guy who cheated flagrantly until Duncan McLeod (the hero) killed him. Amanda Darriuex is a 1000 year-old immortal thief, friend and sometimes-lover of Duncan's. Benny Carbasa is fairly young (100 or so) immortal who talks himself into and out of trouble routinely; doesn't appear to know which end of a sword to hold; survives with flattery, fast-talk and running away.
*Usually the immortal responsible for said beheading....